Sun’s out, grills out! Just cause you’re vegan doesn’t mean you don’t still get to marinade stuff and fire up the old BBQ this summer. And if you want to take your tofu steaks from boring and bland to tastebud blazing, you’ll want to make up a big batch of my tropical coconut marinade and sauce.
You can marinate the tofu for an hour but for best flavor results, I recommend soaking your tofu in this good stuff overnight. Just pop it in, cover it up, place it in the fridge and let the tofu do its thing, soaking up all the delicious tropical flavor.
Aside from tasting amazing, the second best part about this recipe is that if you’ve got a well-stocked vegan pantry, you’ve probably already got all, if not most, of the ingredients to make this marinade already in your kitchen.
Not a cilantro fan? Don’t worry, you can swap it out for mint! Can’t handle the heat? Just reduce the amount of jalapeno you put in, or leave it out altogether!
And don’t be afraid to use this marinade and sauce on other items of food – it’s not just for tofu.
Try soaking some raw aubergine in lemon juice overnight, draining it and then giving it a generous coating of this sauce. It will taste very similar to the poisson cru or ‘raw fish’ they serve up in the Pacific Islands!
Want more tofu recipes? Give these a try:
Japanese Fried Tofu in Kombu Dashi Broth
Tofu Scramble with Veggies and Roasted Potatoes
If you make a batch of this tropical coconut marinade for your next BBQ session, please come back and leave a comment below to let me know what you thought of it.
You can also tag us @One_Bite_Vegan on Instagram. We love to see what you’ve whipped up in your vegan kitchen!
Tropical Coconut Marinade and Sauce for Grilled Tofu
Ingredients
Marinade & Sauce
- 1 13.5 oz can coconut milk
- 1 tbsp ginger minced
- 1 tbsp garlic minced
- ½ red onion thinly sliced
- 2 roma tomatoes chopped
- 1 jalapeno minced
- 2 green onions chopped
- 10 leaves mint or cilantro chopped
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp ground coriander
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 lime zest and juice
Tofu
- 2 14oz packs firm tofu drained
Instructions
- Cut each block of tofu into 9-10 slices. Place into a shallow baking dish.
- Combine all of the marinade ingredients in a bowl and stir to combine. Pour over the tofu.
- Cover the marinated tofu dish with plastic wrap and marinate for at least 1 hour or overnight.
- Remove the tofu from the marinade and set aside.
- Pour the marinade into a saucepan and heat over medium-high heat. Reduce by half and season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Spray the tofu slices with cooking spray or drizzle olive oil over. Grill for about 2-3 minutes on each side. Season with salt and pepper.
- Serve the grilled tofu and spoon over generous portions of the sauce.
It was absolutely delicious thank you 🙏